Lusitania (vessel)

Lusitania (vessel), British steamship of the Cunard Line, torpedoed without warning during World War I by a German submarine on May 7, 1915, off Kinsale on the south coast of Ireland. The ship sank in less than 20 minutes with the loss of 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. The Germans asserted that the ship was carrying arms for the Allies (which later research proved to be true), and that Americans had been warned against taking passage on British vessels in a notice that had appeared in American morning newspapers on the day the ship sailed from New York.

Popular feeling against the Germans rose to a high pitch in the United States because of the Lusitania disaster, and strong sentiment developed for declaring war on Germany. President Woodrow Wilson chose a diplomatic settlement, however, and sent the German foreign ministry three successive notes, demanding that Germany disavow the sinking and make reparations. Germany refused to accept responsibility for the tragedy but did agree to make reparations and to sink no more passenger liners without warning. However, in early 1917 the Germans decreed a renewal of the unrestricted sinking of Allied and neutral passenger and merchant vessels, leading to a United States declaration of war in the spring.